Managing and Motivating a Biotech Team in 2024

Donna Higgins is Founder & CEO of The Higgins Group, Inc, one of the oldest and most successful search firms in the life sciences. Founded in 1998, the firm has grown exclusively through referrals as a result of Ms Higgins’s simple but powerful business philosophy: to develop lasting relationships with a select group of clients by doing great work. This drive for excellence infuses every aspect of the firm’s work due to a culture that values superior results, exceptional teamwork and doing the right thing. Although her team has diverse backgrounds and experiences, all of The Higgins Group consultants, researchers and associates share Ms Higgins’s energy, optimism, integrity and grit.Over her 30 years’ in the life sciences, Ms Higgins has gained a global reputation for her insight, expertise and integrity. Prior to starting her own firm, Ms Higgins was Vice President & Life Science Practice Lead for Howard Fischer Associates International where she rapidly built the life science practice by consistently exceeding her clients’ expectations. Before becoming a search professional, Ms Higgins worked on commercial teams at both ends of the life sciences spectrum, dividing a decade between Abbott Laboratories, a Fortune 50 pharmaceutical company, and Immunex, an emerging biotech company at the time.Ms Higgins holds an MBA from Drexel University and a BA from Penn State University. Committed to lifelong learning, she joined the Coaching Certification Program at Columbia University to continue sharpening the strategic coaching she provides to clients and candidates. She is an Advisory Board member for Life Sciences Cares and the Association of Women Entrepreneurs, and a Board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence Region and AchieveAbility. She also serves as adjunct faculty at the Center for Positive Leadership, where she is a frequent speaker on women in business. Ms Higgins divides her time between the company’s Philadelphia and Boston offices.

Oscar Segurado is an executive veteran of the biopharmaceutical industry with extensive global leadership experience in translational science, clinical development and medical affairs. Dr Segurado is the Chief Medical Officer for ASC Therapeutics, and formerly held CMO positions for Symvivo, Myriad Genetics-Crescendo and CellMax Life, as well as roles such as Vice President for Becton Dickinson and Global Medical Head for Abbott/AbbVie. Dr Segurado is a senior medical leader experienced in matrixed, line management and consulting for biotechs, midsize and large pharma companies. He has extensive expertise in gene therapy (ASC, AveXis, UCLA Ventures, UniQure, Symvivo), immuno-oncology (Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bellicum, Jazz), immuno-therapy (Bristol-Myers Squibb, Macrogenics, TriSalus), genomics (Freenome, Myriad) and protein/cell diagnostics (Abbott, BD, Crescendo), predominantly focused on oncology, hematology and autoimmunity, including personalized medicine, molecular and cellular biomarkers. Dr Segurado holds a tenured Professorship of Immunology at the University of Leon, Spain, currently on leave. He received his PhD from the University of Wuerzburg, Germany and MD from the University of Salamanca, Spain. Prior to this, he was an associate professor at the Faculties of Medicine in the University of Munich, Germany, and University Complutense of Madrid, Spain. Dr Segurado has authored and co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, including Nature, Lancet and Journal of Experimental Medicine, as well as books and medical articles and is a member of several scientific and medical societies, including ASCO, ASH, ESMO, AACR and SITC.

Amy Simon, MD, is Chief Medical Officer of Beam. Dr Simon brings more than 20 years of clinical experience to Beam, serving in roles as a physician-scientist in academia and the biotechnology industry. Dr Simon joins Beam from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, where she spent over a decade in various roles with increasing responsibility for the clinical development of RNAi-based medicines, most recently serving as Vice President, Clinical Development. During her tenure at Alnylam, she led the successful execution of clinical programs from natural history studies to Phase 1 through Phase 4 studies, regulatory interactions with both U.S. and ex-U.S. authorities, and drug approvals in the US and EU. Dr Simon was the lead clinician developing GIVLAARI® (givosiran) for patients with acute hepatic porphyria, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2019. Prior to entering the biotech industry, Dr Simon worked in academia at Tufts University, serving as a professor and a director of the Asthma Center in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division at Tufts University School of Medicine and as a professor at Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Science where her laboratory conducted basic science research on asthma. She began her career in clinical practice, training as a resident in internal medicine and as a fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Tufts Medical Center. Dr Simon holds a BA in History and Science from Harvard University, and an MD from Tufts University School of Medicine.

Joanne Lager is a biopharma executive with more than 20 years of leadership in Oncology drug development.  Jo recently joined NiKang Therapeutics to lead the development of clinical programs targeting HIF2α and CDK2. Jo was previously the Chief Medical Officer at iTeos Therapeutics, the Head of Development for Oncology at Sanofi Genzyme and a Medical Director and Project Leader at GlaxoSmithKline where she contributed to the registration of Sarclisa (isatuximab), Libtayo (cemiplimab) and Votrient (pazopanib). Jo earned her medical degree from Duke University, her fellowship in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Duke University, and a joint fellowship in Oncology Drug Development between Duke University and GlaxoSmithKline.